# Why would someone need a gun on a college campus? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 20, 2017, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599 "2017-01-20T03:08:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/61 "2017-01-22T07:39:42Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > These discussions always seem to start out with _Why do you need…?_ as if every right must be justified by the need to access that right. > > The reverse should be the default. _Why must you take this right from me_? Uh, this “right” is about the government not being able to ban you from having guns. A private entity can do that, and they’re not taking away any kind of “right” you may have. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/62 "2017-01-22T14:57:56Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Uh, this “right” is about the government not being able to ban you from having guns. A private entity can do that, and they’re not taking away any kind of “right” you may have. > > Just sayin’. That’s very true, but it’s also largely irrelevant to this thread. Many colleges are governmental bodies, not private entities. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/63 "2017-01-23T01:43:21Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > So, you claim to be pro-gun, yet you would forbid young adults from even keeping guns in their own residence? That seems…not really pro-gun. Did you go to college and live in a dorm on campus? I can’t hardly imagine that if you had, that you’d think it was a good idea to allow guns there, for dozens of reasons. Stupidity, drunkenness, emotionality, lack of security, etc… I mean, we pretty much didn’t lock our doors in my dorm; unless someone had a gun safe of some kind, it would be a huge gap in the physical security of the weapons. And I’m not saying that they can’t own guns, just that they can’t keep them on campus in dorms. I don’t particularly care if people carry on campus, so long as they aren’t keeping them in the dorms. Just too much that could potentially go wrong. Part of it is that I was a RA; that means that in case of some kind of disturbance, _I_ was probably the first person of authority on the scene, even if I was only trained in stuff like peer counseling and dispute resolution, not in how to deal with violent drunks or people armed with lethal weapons. I mean, if someone’s drunk and violent, but unarmed, I wouldn’t be so worried; I’m a big guy, I’d been in a few fights, and have some basic martial arts training. But a gun makes it a totally different situation. And seriously… a guy with 3 shotguns, 5 pistols and 4 rifles is getting his pro-gun credentials questioned? There’s a difference between being pro-gun and being irrationally so; gun ownership is not an absolute right- there are times, places and people where it should absolutely be restricted. For example, the mentally ill/unstable, college dorms, bars, and at events like sporting events or inaugurations. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/64 "2017-01-23T03:28:15Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Did you go to college and live in a dorm on campus? I can’t hardly imagine that if you had, that you’d think it was a good idea to allow guns there, for dozens of reasons. Stupidity, drunkenness, emotionality, lack of security, etc… I mean, we pretty much didn’t lock our doors in my dorm; unless someone had a gun safe of some kind, it would be a huge gap in the physical security of the weapons. > > And I’m not saying that they can’t own guns, just that they can’t keep them on campus in dorms. I don’t particularly care if people carry on campus, so long as they aren’t keeping them in the dorms. Just too much that could potentially go wrong. > > Part of it is that I was a RA; that means that in case of some kind of disturbance, _I_ was probably the first person of authority on the scene, even if I was only trained in stuff like peer counseling and dispute resolution, not in how to deal with violent drunks or people armed with lethal weapons. I mean, if someone’s drunk and violent, but unarmed, I wouldn’t be so worried; I’m a big guy, I’d been in a few fights, and have some basic martial arts training. But a gun makes it a totally different situation. > > And seriously… a guy with 3 shotguns, 5 pistols and 4 rifles is getting his pro-gun credentials questioned? There’s a difference between being pro-gun and being irrationally so; gun ownership is not an absolute right- there are times, places and people where it should absolutely be restricted. For example, the mentally ill/unstable, college dorms, bars, and at events like sporting events or inaugurations. Aren’t most people only in the dorm during their freshman year? Handguns are restricted to over 21s so most would be out of the dorm by then. Also you can certainly require the gun be secured when not carried. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/65 "2017-01-23T03:42:22Z")
> [@bump](#): > > And seriously… a guy with 3 shotguns, 5 pistols and 4 rifles is getting his pro-gun credentials questioned? Absolutely. I know several gun grabber liberals who own all sorts of guns including “assault weap:rolleyes:ns”. While on the opposite end of the spectrum their hypocrisy is no worse than yours. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/66 "2017-01-23T03:50:11Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > Handguns are restricted to over 21 This isn’t exactly true. In most states an 18 year old can possess a pistol but cannot get a CCW permit until 21. Federal law prohibits under 21 from buying a hand gun from an FFL but doesn’t prevent a parent from giving an 18 year old a handgun to keep in their home or to open carry. YMMV depending on what state you’re in. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/67 "2017-01-23T07:24:51Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Did you go to college and live in a dorm on campus? I can’t hardly imagine that if you had, that you’d think it was a good idea to allow guns there, for dozens of reasons. Stupidity, drunkenness, emotionality, lack of security, etc… I mean, we pretty much didn’t lock our doors in my dorm; unless someone had a gun safe of some kind, it would be a huge gap in the physical security of the weapons. > > And I’m not saying that they can’t own guns, just that they can’t keep them on campus in dorms. I don’t particularly care if people carry on campus, so long as they aren’t keeping them in the dorms. Just too much that could potentially go wrong. > > Part of it is that I was a RA; that means that in case of some kind of disturbance, _I_ was probably the first person of authority on the scene, even if I was only trained in stuff like peer counseling and dispute resolution, not in how to deal with violent drunks or people armed with lethal weapons. I mean, if someone’s drunk and violent, but unarmed, I wouldn’t be so worried; I’m a big guy, I’d been in a few fights, and have some basic martial arts training. But a gun makes it a totally different situation. > > And seriously… a guy with 3 shotguns, 5 pistols and 4 rifles is getting his pro-gun credentials questioned? There’s a difference between being pro-gun and being irrationally so; gun ownership is not an absolute right- there are times, places and people where it should absolutely be restricted. For example, the mentally ill/unstable, college dorms, bars, and at events like sporting events or inaugurations. You still have not given us a cite that guns on campus would actually be a problem. I’ve done part of the work for you by pointing out a jurisdiction that allows guns where alcohol is both sold and consumed. You CLAIM to be pro-gun, but your hysterical hypotheticals – totally ignoring reality – scream anti-gun. You’re like the liberals who screamed, and cried, and wept to high heaven that the 12th state to liberalize concealed carry laws would result in rivers of blood in the streets, totally ignoring that that hadn’t happened in the other 11 states. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/68 "2017-01-23T09:00:48Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > You CLAIM to be pro-gun, but your hysterical hypotheticals – totally ignoring reality – scream anti-gun. He’s also insulting the adults that college students are. Instead of going to college they could have gotten a job and lived in an apartment (with a gun for protection) and be productive responsible adults, but put them in a college setting instead and they become untrustworthy drunken nut cases. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/69 "2017-01-23T14:03:24Z")
> [@bobo\_blesinger](#): > > Aren’t you the one who keeps your concealed gun aimed at cab drivers giving you a ride? I doubt cabbies want crazy people bringing their guns into their cabs. Actually, I simply keep my hand inside my purse in a position where I can easily access the gun if need be when it’s necessary to be alone with a male cab driver. If the driver has a problem with that I will gladly choose another cab though this has honestly never been an issue. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/70 "2017-01-23T14:05:56Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > What if they use a suppressor? An accidental discharge is still potentially going to damage library materials ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/71 "2017-01-23T14:14:50Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > They’re not legal on campus so, by God, nobody has one! Nobody but NOBODY would dare break that law! > > Every time any sort of carry law comes up, be it in public, on campus, in bars, whatever, the people who oppose it continue to be under the impression that because it’s forbidden people simply don’t do it. That couldn’t be any more false. You need only read the news to find people who get arrested and are charged with firearms violations. As usual, I am compelled to state the obvious: criminals don’t obey laws. > > Furthermore, when it does pass there is never any statistical data that shows that it caused any more death or destruction than what happened prior to the law being passed. But here we are, seeing the same handwringing as usual, with the person I quoted saying in a previous post that he actively avoids places where firearms are welcome, pretending that if he looks the other direction he’ll never encounter anyone carrying a gun. Here’s the funny thing… odds are you already have, and you never even knew it. The fact that firearms aren’t legal on certain campuses gave the police one more weapon in preventing stupid acts of violence. They did not have to wait someone’s ex-lover with an attitude problem had the weapon armed and cock. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/72 "2017-01-23T23:32:32Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > The fact that firearms aren’t legal on certain campuses gave the police one more weapon in preventing stupid acts of violence. This is the same kind of horseshit babbling those opposed to concealed carry laws spewed. Yet they never had the honor to admit they were wrong after history proved they were. All the problems you envision with this topic are in you’re head. You’ve presented no data showing significant problems with campus carry. [This is the part where you or someone else posts 1 or 2 negative stories on it and base your entire argument on those 1 or 2 stories] ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/73 "2017-01-24T01:10:53Z")
Every police officer i have ever known has supported concealed carry. In fact many ccw classes are taught by off duty officers. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/74 "2017-01-24T02:10:29Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Yeah, I’m generally pro-gun, but this is one place I strongly diverge from the rest of the pro-gun crowd. > > I was a RA for 3.5 years at one of the largest state universities in the country (Texas A&M) in the early-mid 1990s. While my residents were pretty much non-violent and law-abiding, they were also pretty much 18-22 year old dipshits with a proclivity for getting drunk and doing dumb and possibly injurious things. I even fell into that category, and I was one of the guys nominally in charge! Combine this with the still not quite developed emotional state of most college students, and you have a bunch of frequently drunk dumb-asses who often get drunk and do stupid things out of their drunkenness and/or emotion. > > Throwing guns into that mix is a bad idea. I could totally see my idiot residents getting liquored up and pulling out Billy’s shotgun and playing CD skeet-shooting out the windows. Or any number of other dangerous but not intentionally violent things. I could also see some of my more… dramatic residents shooting themselves after breaking up with girlfriends, had guns actually been present. Or shooting someone else in one of the myriad of love triangles, cheating incidents and misinterpreted FWB situations that I saw in that time as an RA… > > Guns just add a deadly element to all that, and to what end? So that on that _extremely_ low probability that someone actually might need a gun for self-defense, it’s present? It’s like giving someone preventative chemotherapy in case they might get cancer. Why do you hate the Second Amendment? Does it say “the right … shall not be abridged … unless **bump** thinks it’s a good idea?” ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/75 "2017-01-24T02:57:43Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/76 "2017-01-24T05:47:03Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > Every police officer i have ever known has supported concealed carry. In fact many ccw classes are taught by off duty officers. It took 3 tries to get concealed carry in Wisconsin. The first 2 tries resulted in a veto that was not overridden. Shockingly, one of the state legislature members that voted to uphold the veto was the Democrat that introduced the bill in the first place. Every time the issue came up the antis would spew their propaganda how it would make it more dangerous for law enforcement officers and make their jobs harder. Yet, every time, all the major police officer associations, deputy sheriff unions, and the troopers association came out in favor of the law. One representative of an anti group went so far as to suggest cops were too stupid to know any better and she had to oppose the law for our own good. Yeah, don’t do me any favors lady! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/77 "2017-01-24T13:42:42Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > It took 3 tries to get concealed carry in Wisconsin. The first 2 tries resulted in a veto that was not overridden. Shockingly, one of the state legislature members that voted to uphold the veto was the Democrat that introduced the bill in the first place. > > Every time the issue came up the antis would spew their propaganda how it would make it more dangerous for law enforcement officers and make their jobs harder. > > Yet, every time, all the major police officer associations, deputy sheriff unions, and the troopers association came out in favor of the law. One representative of an anti group went so far as to suggest cops were too stupid to know any better and she had to oppose the law for our own good. Yeah, don’t do me any favors lady! :mad: I was considering putting my NRA sticker in my car window, as a “profiling aid” to any cop that might be sniffing around. I was told not to, as there is not much love in police circles for the NRA. As for your legislative bill sponsor, it is not unusual when the introducer of a bill doesn’t even recognize it any more after it goes through committee. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/78 "2017-01-24T14:57:24Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > He’s also insulting the adults that college students are. Instead of going to college they could have gotten a job and lived in an apartment (with a gun for protection) and be productive responsible adults, but put them in a college setting instead and they become untrustworthy drunken nut cases. To be clear, I’m not against the idea of college students owning guns. I’m not against the idea of carrying guns on campus either. What I am not wild about is the idea of people having and storing guns in dorms on college campuses. I mean, we (meaning somewhere in the nation) already prohibit them in post offices, courthouses/government buildings, churches, bars, airports, and in most states, in educational institutions. Prohibiting them in dorms seems more obvious to me than banning them in post offices, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/79 "2017-01-24T20:46:30Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > An accidental discharge is still potentially going to damage library materials Said the cop as he was arresting the flasher. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599/80 "2017-01-24T23:36:50Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > Every police officer i have ever known has supported concealed carry. In fact many ccw classes are taught by off duty officers. If you want to go that route, every police officer I have ever known hates concealed carry because it only adds multiple layers of difficulty to their jobs. The last thing they want in armed confrontation is untrained would-be Rambos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-need-a-gun-on-a-college-campus/777599.md?page=5)